Designthinking.gal is a Galician consulting firm that develops training programs and innovation projects through the Design Thinking methodology. Its main objective is to promote innovation in Galicia.

With what objectives was DesignThinking.gal born?

We were born mainly with the aim of making people-centered innovation known to both organizations and Galician society in general. We started in 2014 and we bet from the beginning for an inclusive and diverse innovation, where anyone could innovate regardless of their characteristics. The important thing is to provide people with the right tools and generate a space of trust where they can express themselves. Today we work for organizations in Spain and Latin America and in the most diverse sectors, from social to technological, from educational to industrial.

What exactly is the Design Thinking methodology?

Design Thinking is a people-centered innovation methodology that starts by finding the real needs of users: the famous insights. From these insights, a creative process is carried out, which takes the form of a prototype, and ends with a test with the target audience. It is a methodology that works because of quick and cheap interactions and that allows us to implement solutions that are highly contrasted with the users, which increases the probability of success.

Innovation is often associated only with technological investment. What should be a comprehensive approach to innovation in the company and to which aspects can it be applied?

Innovation is still a tool that humans have to solve problems or needs, therefore it can be applied in any field.

As for the approach, to begin with, it would be very interesting for organizations to be aware that innovating is not expensive, what is very expensive is not doing it. There are many examples throughout history of leading organizations in their sector that disappeared because they stopped innovating.

Once we are committed to innovation, it should ideally become part of the organization's culture, as it will facilitate the processes to innovate, obtain better results and be much more sustainable in the long term.

What are the keys to implementing a culture of innovation in a company or organization?

We believe that the biggest key is to have a shared purpose, from the CEO to the last employee, which motivates to make that cultural change.

From there, it is necessary to get to know the people who are part of the organization, identify the barriers that are blocking or may block this change and learn by doing.

What challenges do small and medium-sized companies face in order to innovate?

One of the biggest challenges in SMEs, I think, is to find those spaces of trust for innovation to emerge. Normally these types of companies, especially small ones, tend to have very limited resources in terms of personnel and time. This, together with the different legends about

innovation, such as that it is expensive, complex or that it only has to do with technology, makes it very difficult for them to consider starting to innovate.

We have worked with many SMEs over the years to generate these spaces and we know that it is feasible, it is often a matter of changing the chip and overcoming these barriers.

They claim that the future of innovation in companies lies in the so-called Innovation Communities. What are they and what is their importance?

We could define an Innovation Community as a group of people whose common interest is to innovate or improve what is already established, advancing their organization, sector or society in general.

Community work is as old as human beings and was one of the keys that brought us this far as a species. The advantage we have today are the technologies for communication, which allow us to reach volumes of people and latitudes that were previously unfeasible.

In a world where everything is going faster and faster, we need to be permanently connected with our entire ecosystem, quickly detecting needs or opportunities that allow us to continue being useful to our users and therefore survive.

The very dynamics generated in the communities give rise to a learning process that is much more agile and exponential than the traditional one, which increases the value of the organizations. There is currently no faster and better innovation than that which can be carried out by a motivated innovation community.

In addition, the generation of innovation communities represents a very low investment for companies compared to the return they generate on an ongoing and long-term basis.